


Stark's Home for Wayward Animals

by iron_spider



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Gen, Parent Tony Stark, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Precious Peter Parker, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-04
Updated: 2018-11-04
Packaged: 2019-08-17 16:31:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16520039
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iron_spider/pseuds/iron_spider
Summary: “Peter?” he calls. “That you looming around in the dark and falling on your ass?”“Uh.” Peter’s voice. Two more meows.“Are you meowing at me?” Tony asks, weaving around the wet spots on the ground. “Is this happening? Is there something you wanna tell me?”“I’m—I’m not.”Tony narrows his eyes and turns the corner. Peter is splayed out on the third stair, in his Spiderman suit sans the mask, soaked to the bone. His hair is plastered to his forehead, he’s shivering, and he’s holding a gray cat clutched to his chest.Tony stares at him. Both Peter and the cat are looking at him, wide-eyed, and then the cat meows again, breaking the silence.“What’s happening right now?” Tony asks.





	Stark's Home for Wayward Animals

**Author's Note:**

> Visit me at iron--spider.tumblr.com :)

Tony is lying in bed, staring up at the pockmarked ceiling and listening to the raging of the rain. The thunder rumbles through the walls of the compound and occurs at such a frequency that Tony wonders if Thor is pissed off somewhere, making the skies boom with the height of his anger. Tony clears his throat and readjusts his pillows again. He always hates when Pepper is gone, especially since the wedding, and he wonders if he’d look as pathetic as he feels if he just followed her around everywhere she went. He resists shooting her another text and he cracks his neck, trying to will himself to sleep.

Until he hears a noise out in the hallway.

His eyes snap open and he sits up, listening again. The compound isn’t exactly an easy place to break into—they’ve all made sure of that, Happy’s stayed up late nights to make sure of that, so Tony figures this isn’t what it sounds like. He listens for another long moment. He hears whispering, a door closing, and then a body dropping to the floor.

A long meow.

“What the fuck…” Tony breathes, quickly tossing the covers aside and getting out of bed. There’s another strike of lightning outside, splintering along the walls. He walks out into the hall and sees a puddle on the ground, then another, and another, and another. Wet footprints. He narrows his eyes, watching their journey from the elevator to the stairs, and he hears another meow. Some more whispering. Very familiar whispering.

“Peter?” he calls. “That you looming around in the dark and falling on your ass?”

“Uh.” Peter’s voice. Two more meows.

“Are you meowing at me?” Tony asks, weaving around the wet spots on the ground. “Is this happening? Is there something you wanna tell me?”

“I’m—I’m not.”

Tony narrows his eyes and turns the corner. Peter is splayed out on the third stair, in his Spiderman suit sans the mask, soaked to the bone. His hair is plastered to his forehead, he’s shivering, and he’s holding a gray cat clutched to his chest. 

Tony stares at him. Both Peter and the cat are looking at him, wide-eyed, and then the cat meows again, breaking the silence. 

“What’s happening right now?” Tony asks. 

“Uh, uh,” Peter says, looking back and forth between Tony and the cat.

Tony rolls his eyes. “Alright, let’s just—you gotta stop looking like one of those weird mock Renaissance paintings—” He starts down the stairs, scoffs a little bit as he tries to figure out how the hell to approach this, and he finally decides on taking the cat out of Peter’s arms before anything else. The cat is wet but it doesn’t fight or balk when Tony drapes it over his shoulder, just lets out a pathetic meow and a little huff. Tony reaches out and pulls Peter to his feet, making sure he doesn’t slip as he braces one hand on the cat’s back. 

“What’s going on here?” Tony asks, as Peter takes the cat back, draping it over his own shoulder. Tony holds onto the kid’s arm as they walk down the stairs, and he’s seen a lot of lies born in Peter’s eyes, and he watches as he tries to concoct one right now. “Nope. No. No long tales from you, Parker, I want the truth. Where’s this cat from? You steal it? Doesn’t seem like you.”

Peter scoffs as they get to the main floor and head into the living room. “No, I did not _steal_ her.”

“So?” Tony asks. He flips on a light, walks out ahead of him, spreading the purple blanket out on the couch and depositing Peter and the cat down on top of it. He heads for the nearest bathroom, looking suspiciously over his shoulder. “I know May’s allergic…” He trails off, going through the motions of getting towels out of the closet as his mind puts together the rest. “Wait. Wait a second.” 

Peter and the cat are both peering over the back of the couch as Tony walks back out and over to them. He tosses one of the towels over Peter’s head and roughs it through his hair, watching the cat watching him. “Are you gifting me a cat?” Tony asks, dropping the other towel into Peter’s lap. “You know you’re not supposed to give animals as presents, especially to children—”

Peter snorts, pushing the towel up and out of his eyes. Tony rubs his hair a little more before letting the material sink around Peter’s shoulders, and the cat flicks its tail so it doesn’t touch its fur. It nudges into Peter’s chin, rubbing against him. 

“You’re not a child—”

“Debatable—”

“And I’m not—is gifting the right word? I don’t know, I was thinking like, joint custody—”

“With me?” Tony laughs. “Kid, if I took this cat—which—we’re gonna—anyway, if I did, it’d be like, your brother—” He rolls his eyes at himself and stops talking.

“She’s a girl, I think,” Peter says, craning his neck to look at her. He takes the towel from his lap and starts patting it over the cat’s body, and he looks back at Tony again. His eyes are pleading. “Listen—I mean. Yeah, May is allergic, but we’re not allowed to have animals anyway—”

“Who is this cat?” Tony asks. “What’s it’s—her story?”

“I’ve been seeing her hanging around outside the bank on 14th for about a week now, I know she’s a stray, I’ve fed her some chicken before, she’s never had any collar or anything. Today I was out there, you know, doing my thing—”

“Right—”

“—and I see her running through traffic, in this pouring rain, almost getting hit by cars, hit by lightning—”

“Right, right,” Tony says, eyeing the cat and leaning on the back of the couch. “So your first thought was to bring her to Stark’s Home for Wayward Animals.”

Peter blinks at him, pathetically. The cat does too. They’re both drenched and Peter’s hair is sticking up in every direction—he puts on a little frown, his eyebrows furrowing, and he knows exactly how to tip the odds in his direction whenever Tony is involved. He’s had Tony wrapped around his little finger for years now, and more so after they saved the world and put everything right again. When they brought him back from the dead. 

Tony would do anything for the kid. Even house a stray cat.

It isn’t that Tony doesn’t like cats—he likes all animals, always has since he was little, but they were never a big part of his life. Howard was allergic and wouldn’t ever entertain the idea of getting a dog or anything else. Once his mom bought him a fish, and despite his valiant attempts to dedicate his time and energy to Mr. Gills, he died after a month. 

Tony meets the cat’s eyes. He never really considered this place animal friendly, but he did knock out those two walls in the east wing. He could make that room cat friendly, and it’s close to that other bedroom that Pepper wants to move into. He knows he wouldn’t be such a pushover if it was anybody else suggesting this, even though Peter hasn’t said the words out loud yet. 

“Can you just—keep her, for a while?” Peter asks. “I’ll check around, try to find someone to take her for good, and then I’ll get her out of your hair. But I’ll keep coming over and taking care of her—”

“I’m obviously gonna do this for you, kid, c’mon,” Tony says, tossing the towel back over Peter’s head. “Coming up in here all wet and pathetic. Pulling out the big guns for this little lady, huh? I’m surprised you didn’t break your own leg. Wait, you are just wet, right? No injuries, you didn’t get hit by a car—”

“No, I—” Peter yanks the towel off and tosses it aside, grinning. He holds the cat close like he’s holding a baby. “I’m fine, but—really? Really, you’ll—”

“Yes, yes,” Tony says. “You got a name for her yet? I’d be surprised if you don’t.”

Peter smiles a little sheepishly. “Stella.”

Tony looks at her. She yawns at him, kneading Peter’s shoulder. “Feels right,” he says. “You gonna stay here tonight?”

“Uh, yeah, I might have already told May that I was…”

“Okay,” Tony says. “Wrap the little miss in a towel, wrap yourself in a towel, once you get changed you have the very important job of putting together a cat-box.” He starts back towards the bedroom, already planning on ordering some supplies, starting with some flea shampoo. 

“Tony, Tony, thank you,” Peter says, his voice getting closer as he moves to follow. The cat meows a little louder. “You’re the best. You’re totally the best, you know you’re just—”

“Uh huh,” Tony says, trying to sound nonchalant as his heart swells. He shoots a smile over his shoulder, hoping the kid doesn’t elect to hug him now while he’s still drenched in rain water. The storm sounds a little calmer now, but the thunder still rumbles through the walls. He’s surprised the cat isn’t running around panicking, but she seems to have taken a liking to Peter. Like everybody else that meets him. Tony turns and starts walking backwards, watching Peter clutching the cat to his chest and practically vibrating with excitement.

“Just so you know, you do not need to break into the compound next time you bring me an animal off the street, okay?”

“Next time,” Peter laughs, petting the cat’s wet fur.

~

“ _Boss, Peter Parker is on the premises._ ”

Tony is laying on the floor of the cat’s room, with the cat on his stomach. Her ears perk up at the sound of Peter’s name, probably because Tony says variations of it all the goddamn time. He pets her and sits up, yawning as he glances at his last text to Pepper. 

_This cat is definitely pregnant_

“Is he good?” Tony asks. He was already here earlier today, the two of them hung out with Nat, did some training, played with the cat, but then once they left Tony had some alone time with Stella—and yeah, he’s gotten attached in the week she’s been here, but he’s also been gearing himself up for the inevitable arrival of kittens, even though he hasn’t mentioned it to Peter yet. _Hey kid, your new furry sister is gonna give you a litter of nieces and nephews._ He rolls his eyes at himself.

“ _His vitals are raised and he has a few lacerations—_ ”

“Uh, what the fuck,” Tony mutters. He quickly puts Stella down, patting her on the head as he gets to his feet. “Where is he?” he asks, glancing at Stella’s full food bowl on the way out of the room.

“ _Downstairs, front door. And he has a dog with him._ ”

That makes Tony stutter a little in his tracks, raising his eyebrows.

“Okay…” he mutters. “Did he bring the dog? Did the dog follow him?”

“ _He has the dog on a leash, boss._ ”

“Alright,” Tony says, shaking his head as he makes for the stairs. “He’s—okay. There’s a dog now.”

He makes it downstairs into the main corridor and can hear Peter before he sees him, as seems to be the norm with Peter lately.

“No, no, boy, stay with me, I’m—he’s coming, he’s coming, you’re gonna love Mr. Stark, bud, you’re—” He stops talking when Tony turns the corner and catches sight of him. Peter breaks into a grin and the dog he’s got on a leash starts wagging his tail. It’s a smaller-looking Pitbull with a few scratches and bites on its body. Peter’s in the suit again, and it’s torn in a few places—there’s what looks like a burn on his arm where the material is ripped, his eye is black and he’s splayed out on the floor again. But the kid is still smiling.

Tony is not smiling.

“Kid—Pete—what the hell?” Tony asks, rushing over to him. Tony doesn’t have time to be wary of the dog because the dog starts attacking him with kisses when he approaches instead of anything threatening, and when Tony crouches down next to Peter the dog starts licking them both, nudging at Peter’s hand. “Who’s this? What the hell happened?”

“Uh, uh—don’t be mad at me.”

Tony glares. “What did you do?”

“Nothing!”

“Something,” Tony says, gesturing to the dog.

“I just need you to, like…keep him,” Peter says. “And I know that might make you mad, because—because Stella is still here—”

“And Stella is pregnant.”

Peter’s jaw drops and he stops talking. He blinks at Tony incredulously, almost scandalized. “How’d that happen?”

Despite the wounds and clear evidence of some kind of fight, Tony nearly chokes at the cadence of the kid’s voice and the confusion in his question. “Uh, you obviously brought her to me already in that condition. There are no tomcats hanging around here waiting to impregnate my house guest.”

“What! No way!”

“Peter,” Tony says, wiping at his face. “Off track.”

“Are you mad about the dog?”

“No, of course not,” Tony says, looking at the happy smiling face. The dog licks Peter’s hand again and sits nicely down next to his knees. “He’s well behaved, I just—c’mon, kid, what the hell happened here?”

“Um—Spiderman broke up a dog fighting ring,” Peter says, chewing on his lower lip and meeting Tony’s eyes. “There were like…maybe twenty guys, I took ‘em all out—well, you know, they’re not dead, I knocked them out—not a murderer—and I called the cops and they took most of the dogs but that stressed me out because I didn’t know where they were taking them—”

“Uh huh,” Tony says, his heartrate rising as he takes stock of Peter’s wounds.

“But this guy,” Peter says. He winces a little bit as he tries to sit up, and Tony takes his uninjured arm, helping him readjust and lean against the wall. Peter blows out a breath, nodding. “I mean. He was defending me in the fight, he liked me right away, and I don’t know—I got attached? Really fast?”

“Doesn’t surprise me,” Tony says. The dog pants and smiles at him. “Okay, let’s—hm. I needta take a look at you but I don’t think I should be bringing a dog into the med bay.” He clicks his tongue and tries to think. “Probably wouldn’t be good with the cat right away. We’re gonna have to introduce them to each other.”

“I’m sor—” Peter starts, but Tony shakes his head.

“Remember. Moratorium on sorry. It’s posted on the fridge. I printed it out. It’s in the ‘impact’ font, so it needs to be respected. _No sorry’s from Peter Parker ever._ ”

Peter snorts. “Fine.” Then he winces, touching the burn on his arm.

It makes Tony think faster. “Okay, uh, one sec. I’ll get someone to come watch him.”

~

“Okay, there,” Tony says, wrapping up the burn and pushing the sleeve of Peter’s hoodie down. His suit is hanging up in the corner, the mask is on the counter, and he’s wearing clothes Tony stocked for him here last time. “How’s the one on your neck feel?”

“Fine,” Peter says, reaching up and touching the bandage. “They should be all healed up by tomorrow.”

“Doesn’t mean we don’t need to treat ‘em, bud, how many times do I need to repeat that? I don’t want another scene of Bruce chasing you around while you’re bleeding from the head.”

“That was fine,” Peter says, swinging his legs over the side of the table. “I was fine. You were being dramatic.”

“No, I was on my fainting couch because you’re intent on giving me a heart attack,” Tony says, ruffling Peter’s hair. He grabs the bottle of Advil and places it in the kid’s palm. Like it’s gonna do anything, but he’s gotta try.

Peter scoffs. “And you don’t call that dramatic?”

“No, that’s normal life with Peter Parker,” Tony says, making sure the kid can jump off the table without issue. “You can ask May. She’ll attest to that.”

When they get closer to the door they can hear Happy and the dog running back and forth, the dog’s nails skittering against the tile floor. They walk out and see Happy chasing the dog back and forth, and Peter laughs joyfully. 

“What are we calling this one?” Tony asks, already thinking of how he’s gonna cordon off the room to make both dog and cat happy.

“I’m feeling the name Hogan right now, with all this going on,” Peter says, leaning against the wall outside the med bay door. 

“Hogan?” Happy asks, stopping in his tracks. The dog turns, sees he’s not following him anymore, and rushes back towards him and runs into his legs. “You’re gonna name the dog after me?” He sounds excited and hopeful, and not at all Happy. Tony loves it.

“Yes,” Tony says. “We have a dog now. Named Hogan, to go along with Stella the cat.”

“The pregnant cat,” Happy says, leaning down and scratching behind Hogan’s ears.

“I still don’t get how that happened,” Peter says, crossing his arms over his chest. 

“Petey, I’m not discussing the birds and bees with you,” Tony says, looking at him sideways. “That’s a conversation for May to have. Maybe I’ll be there for moral support but I’m not gonna add anything.”

Peter hangs his head, clearly trying not to laugh.

~

“Where’s Hamlet?” Tony asks, looking around, clutching Tzu Tzu to his chest. 

“We’re not keeping your weird names, right?” Pepper asks. She’s holding Thunder Paws, whose fur reminded him of Thor. “I don’t like any of the names you picked and it worries me for our future child.”

“As if I’m gonna name our child Thunder Paws,” Tony says, nodding to the kitten in her arms. “Or Walter Croncat,” he says, looking over his shoulder. Stella, proud mom, is lounging in her bed and overlooking her children, which she clearly made with some kind of black and orange hybrid, some deadbeat dad out on the street that has a high possibility of being saved by Peter Parker. There are six kittens—Hamlet, Thunder Paws, Tzu Tzu (Tony’s current favorite), Walter Croncat, Eskimo Pie and Valentina. Hogan, as Tony has come to learn, is the biggest marshmallow dog he’s ever seen, and is currently sitting with his chin on Pepper’s knee, keeping a close eye on squirmy Thunder Paws.

“And anyway,” Tony says. “These names were a collaboration between me and Mr. Parker.”

“As if Peter would ever name a cat Walter Croncat. That’s got you written all over it.”

“I can say that was one of my contributions,” Tony says. “But the majority of them were Peter.”

Pepper sighs. “So let’s talk about it. Are we keeping these babies?” she asks, as Thunder Paws lets out a little pathetic meow right in her face. “What’s going on here?” She gives Thunder Paws a gentle kiss on top of his head, and he meows again.

Tony clicks his tongue. Peter’s been over here almost every day since the kittens were born, and ever since Tony met the kid he’s been worried about him not being able to be…well, a kid. And despite using his abilities to save these animals, when he hangs out with them it’s the most kid-like Tony’s ever seen him be. 

He meets Pepper’s eyes. “Uh, well, Pete loves the kittens. And Stella, and Hogan. You saw him here the other day, you ever see his eyes light up like that?” Tony asks. “And he’s been real good about responsibility, taking care of them, the other day people were tweeting about Spiderman swinging around with all the dog food, remember?”

Pepper laughs. “I remember.”

Hamlet starts climbing into Tony’s lap and Tony puts Tzu Tzu down with him. Tony clears his throat, glancing down when the wobbly kittens start nudging into each other. “I just—it’s nice, to see him so happy. You know, childlike wonder—”

“I do know childlike wonder—”

“And he is a child—”

“He’s a senior in high school—”

“Like I said, a child—”

Pepper snorts. Hogan huffs beside her, and after one pet he moves to start investigating Walter Croncat, Valentina and Eskimo Pie on their towel a couple paces away. 

“Do you care?” Tony asks. “I already talked to May, she said she’d have them all in a heartbeat if the building didn’t check in so often, allergies be damned, I mean, we agreed there are medications for that for a reason—”

“Of course I don’t care,” Pepper says, smiling. “I love watching you carry around kittens the size of your palm.”

“They make me look big and strong.”

“And I love how you were already best friends with Stella soon as you set eyes on her,” Pepper says. Tony looks over and Stella trills with the slightest hint of attention, purring loudly. Tony smiles, tries to stop smiling when Pepper sees him. 

“Don’t talk about it, Hogan’s gonna think I have preferences.” 

Hogan looks back at them, and it’s almost like he’s narrowing his eyes.

“I know you love them both,” Pepper says, kissing Thunder Paws again. “But the best part about this is once again, you’re showing how much you love Peter.”

“Uh huh, uh huh,” Tony says, turning his attention back to the kittens. 

“You’d do anything for that kid.”

Tony narrows his eyes but he’s nodding. No point in denying it.

“So sweet. You’re so sweet, babe.”

“Glad you think so,” Tony says, looking at her. “Gotta keep up appearances, you know, hide the fact that I have a moldy, black heart—”

Pepper scoffs. “As he holds two kittens. Shut up.”

“—the wonderful Mr. Parker and all these little fuzzy minions help with the façade—”

“Tony.”

Tony grins at her. Then FRIDAY starts speaking. 

“ _Boss, Peter Parker is on the premises._ ”

Tony checks his watch. It’s four in the afternoon on a Saturday, so he figures the kid isn’t rolling up in here fresh from a fight. Still, he worries. “Is he good? Anything wrong?”

“ _He’s currently rushing up to you whispering ‘here to see the kittens, here to see the kittens’ under his breath._ ”

Tony breaks into a grin, and Pepper makes a face at him, which he shakes his head at. Yeah, he loves that dorky kid. It’s really hard not to.

~

Tony redoes the animal room. He does let them out into the rest of the compound, just Stella and Hogan until the kittens are older, but he’s paranoid as hell, so usually when he sees them getting too wild or running around people they don’t know, he ushers them back to their quarters, or his own room. It’s not that he doesn’t trust the people he has in and out of the compound, it’s just—those are Peter’s animals. He doesn’t know what the hell he’d do if something happened to them. He takes Hogan out for walks with Happy, Peter and Pepper at least twice a day, and Peter’s gotten into the habit of wanting to take Stella out too, because he’s a lunatic. But she seems to like it, and Peter loves it, so Tony lets it happen. May’s come out a couple times to visit them too, but usually when she’s around them, it’s just a mess of sneezing. 

He’s put all kinds of shit into their room, including couches they love to tear up, bins and bins of toys, and cat trees upon cat trees. He’s got an activity tracker on Hogan’s collar, and when he installs a dog door he follows the dog’s movements on his phone to make sure he isn’t getting into too much trouble around the grounds. He feels like an insane person, and he never thought he’d have animals running around here, but he never thought he’d be co-parenting an enhanced teenager, either. Things happen.

He’s currently half asleep in the animal room, lounging on one of the already half-scratched to death couches with Hamlet and Walter on his chest. He keeps forcing himself to wake up to make sure the others are still cuddled up in their bed, with Hogan and Stella close together keeping watch. His eyes are heavy, though, and for once it seems like sleep is ready to claim him.

“ _Boss, Peter Parker is on the roof. He is injured and he has two Pomeranians in his possession._ ”

Tony’s eyes snap open and a wave of shock goes through him. “Jesus Christ,” he mutters. “Uh—Spiderman—is he in the suit?”

“ _He is_.”

“Connect me.” He quickly picks up the kittens, his joints cracking as he gets to his feet. They blink at him but fall asleep again in his hands, and he puts them with the others, pointing at Hogan when he gives him a look. 

“Mr. Stark,” Peter says, in Tony’s ear. “I, uh, I—”

“What happened?” Tony asks, walking out and closing the door behind him. “Are you alright? Is anyone following you?”

“Ah—it’s a little complicated. Hey guys, hey—stop.”

Tony blows out a breath, walking towards the roof entrance on pure muscle memory. “Details, stat, Parker, I’m coming up to you.”

“Well, uh—uh—this poor old guy that lives on Dewey, he died and nobody knew about it because he didn’t have any family anymore. No one knew for five days until they heard his dogs barking.”

“Okay…” Tony says, walking up the stairs. 

“But when the police came these two dudes—ugh, God—they came out of nowhere and stole these dogs from them! So of course, I followed them—saved the dogs, not without, uh—” He laughs a little bit. “Some hangups. You know how it is.”

“Yeah, I know,” Tony says, narrowing his eyes as he gets into the elevator. “What happened?”

“Well, I saved the dogs, and the cops were just gonna send them to this shelter anyway—”

“Got that part,” Tony says, huffing as he stands in the middle of the elevator, clenching his hands. 

“These guys were like! Kidnapping little yappy dogs! To sell them or something, I don’t know! I called the cops and they found other ones—”

“What happened to you?” Tony asks. He gets out of the elevator and stalks down the hall towards the roof exit. 

“I might have—I think I broke my arm, maybe?”

Tony swallows hard, feeling a little dizzy. He pushes the door open and sees Peter sitting there, in the middle of the roof, with two Pomeranians running circles around him. It seems like they’re on one joint leash—one is white, one is black, and they’re both panting like their lives depend on it. Peter’s clutching the leash in his right hand, holding his left arm close to his chest. 

Tony reaches up and presses the button to end the call, and Peter peels his mask off, wincing. 

“Yeah, I think I definitely broke it,” Peter says, smiling sadly. “And I know, I, uh—I know I need to reset it before it starts healing wrong….because of that one time.”

“That one time,” Tony says, stopping directly in front of him with his hands on his hips. He remembers that one time, that one time is tidily tucked away with all the other times Peter has traumatized him with his injuries, near deaths and full death. “Alright, yeah, we need to—get this taken care of—” He looks down as the two fluffy dogs start dancing around his feet, sniffing him and smiling up at him. 

“Do you need to call Bruce?” Peter asks, as Tony gingerly helps him to his feet. 

“Nah, I can manage it,” Tony says. “What, you don’t trust me?”

“No, I do,” Peter says, looking at him out of the corner of his eye. “I just know how you get when something’s happened to me—”

“Okay—”

“Meaning I know because you told me,” Peter says, as they start towards the door, Peter still holding tight to the leash, and the little dogs follow. “Like, the last time this happened—you were all…God, Parker—you’re killing me, Parker—gotta be more careful, Parker—”

“All true statements,” Tony says, as they get inside and he pulls the door closed behind the four of them. “I’m just wondering—is every Spiderman fight gonna result in new animals for this family? Just wondering.”

Peter scoffs at him. “There have been plenty of fights in between—”

“Alright,” Tony says, fearing the fights Peter hasn’t chosen to share with him. “You sure these two don’t have a home to go to? Don’t want it to turn into Spiderman the dognapper—”

“No, no,” Peter says, as they load into the elevator. “No, he didn’t have anybody. No one was coming to check on him, his neighbors said nobody ever came by.”

Tony sighs as they start down to the med bay. Dying alone, no friends, no family. That might have been one of the futures he was worried about for himself, but now he knows he’s saved himself from that fate.

“I’ll keep an eye on things,” Peter says, wincing when he moves his arm a little bit, leaning against Tony’s shoulder. “See if there are any friends or anything—but I don’t know if I wanna give them up to anybody who wasn’t around checking on this guy.”

“What are their names?” Tony asks, trying to distract Peter from what looks like a pretty painful break. He hopes they can realign it in time before the superhealing takes over.

“Ginger and Fred,” Peter says, smiling. “Guess they’re good little dancers.”

Tony snorts, looking down at the two dogs. “Seems so. Got some moves.”

~

Peter has done this shit with his arms four times, but ‘that one time’ was when Tony needed Helen and Bruce both to help him because the kid was in so much pain and the healing process was already started. The kid was screaming and hollering because no medicine really works on him unless Thor brings it from realms beyond or whatever the hell, and seeing Peter in pain like that always makes it a hundred times harder for Tony to see straight or get anything done.

This time is a lot easier. The break is clean, set in one spot, and Tony is able to splint it and set it off on its own to heal before Peter’s eyes even water. He always second guesses himself when it comes to Peter, but he feels like tomorrow the kid is gonna be ship-shape and ready to go out and save some more animals. Because apparently, that’s his shtick now. 

“Okay, you good?” Tony asks, touching Peter’s shoulder. “Feel okay?”

“I’m good,” Peter says, smiling at him. “Thanks, Mr. Stark. See, it wasn’t that bad.”

“I should be the one saying that to you,” Tony says, side-eyeing him. 

“I’ll try not to break my arm again,” Peter says.

“For the fifth time.”

“For the fifth time,” Peter says. “You didn’t put Ginger and Fred in with the others right?” he asks.

“What, no,” Tony says. “I am a responsible pet owner.”

Peter smiles.

“They’re in my room. Hopefully not pissing and shitting everywhere.”

“I don’t think they’d do that,” Peter says, getting down off the table, holding onto his arm so he doesn’t jar it too much. “Can we go feed them?”

“Yeah, let’s give ‘em a good meal,” Tony says. “They’ve been through a lot. I’ve got the rest of Hogan’s chicken in the kitchen.”

A little bit later, when they’re settled in the animal room, Tony calls May.

“Yeah, I’ve got him,” Tony says into the phone, over Peter’s laughter. 

“Is he alright?” May asks. “Anything weird going on?”

Tony debates on informing her about the broken arm, but then he remembers the other times in his life he’s lied to May Parker and rethinks the omission. “Uh—well, he broke his arm—”

“Oh Jesus, Tony—”

“But it’s fine, I realigned it and it’s all good, it should heal back fine by tomorrow, if I know anything about his time tables by now.”

“Are you sure?”

“Sure,” he says, like ninety percent sure. “And uh, I have two more dogs now.” He looks over at Peter as May sinks into a silence—Ginger, Fred and Hogan are licking Peter’s face all over, sending him into hysterics as he writhes around on the carpet. Tony already took a couple pictures before he made his phone call, because it’s one of the cutest things he’s ever seen. He was a little worried about how Hogan was gonna take to the other two, but they seemed like a happy little family almost instantaneously. Even Stella is continuing to chill out, and Tony had expected a couple hisses to come from her with these guys in the room. But she doesn’t seem to mind their presence. 

“What,” May says, incredulous. “Really?”

“Yup, two Pomeranians he saved from some kinda scam selling deal,” Tony says. 

“Oh my God, Tony, I’m so sorry,” she says. “I’ll try to—I mean, I can try to put some of them up here, I don’t know how it would work—”

“Don’t worry about it, May,” Tony says, watching Peter laugh and keeping a close eye on his arm. “And I’ve got him for tonight. Wanna make sure he heals right. That okay?”

“Of course,” she says. “Just have him call me before bed.”

“Will do,” Tony says. “He loves these dogs. I gotta send you some pictures.”

“I bet it’s pretty cute,” she says.

“Yeah,” Tony says, smiling. “It’s pretty damn cute.”

~

“When is Tasha coming back by?” Pepper asks, from the couch, with Eskimo Pie sleeping in her lap. “Has she said anything?”

“Is she neglecting her renovating duties?” Tony asks. The Pomeranians sleep like goddamn grown men, and they’re currently huddled on either side of him, snoring loudly. 

“No, we’re still on schedule, but I wanna make sure she brings Clint this time instead of Scott,” Pepper says. “Scott can never stay on task, I don’t know how Hope deals with him.”

“Yeah, that guy reminds me of a chipmunk more than an ant,” Tony says. “Are you ever gonna pick a movie? Or are we stuck on the OnDemand page? Is this our purgatory? We’ve been in the G’s for three hours now.”

“Another over exaggeration.”

“I’m gonna put a timer on,” Tony says, pulling his phone out of his pocket. “And once five minutes pass I’m gonna pick something.”

“They’re not even here yet. And we are not watching Groundhog Day again.”

“It’s a classic!” Tony says. “Plus I saw Ginger paying attention last time, I’m pretty sure she likes Bill Murray.” Right at that moment his phone rings, Happy’s face flashing on the screen. “Pause on this conversation, but the timer is still running,” he says, and answers the call. “Hey, you get the kid?”

“Uh, I have him, but it’s, uh—a situation.”

Tony’s heart lurches. “What do you mean?”

“Meaning, uh…” He clears his throat, and that’s when Tony can hear the kid crying in the background. No, sobbing. 

“Is May alright?” Tony asks, fast. “Did something happen?”

“No, she’s—she’s still at work, she’s fine, she doesn’t know—”

“Doesn’t know what?” Tony asks, sitting up straight. “What happened?”

“He’s okay, just some cuts and bruises, uh…”

“Happy,” Tony says, everything around him going dark as his panic starts to take hold. “What’s going on, what happened to him?”

“He’s okay, physically, is what I’m trying to get at,” Happy says. “I should probably let him tell it, the only reason I found him is because I called him when he wasn’t at home.”

“You’re freaking me the fuck out, how far are you from here?” Tony asks. He still hears Peter crying, it sounds awful, and Tony needs them here right now.

“About ten minutes,” Happy says. “I’m speeding.”

~

Tony has Pepper stay with the animals and he waits downstairs by the front entrance, pacing back and forth and trying not to jump to conclusions. Happy said Peter was okay, physically, so what the hell is happening? What could make him sound like that? It makes Tony feel sick, and when he sees Happy’s car drive around the bend he rushes outside and yanks the back door open where Peter usually sits.

He’s sitting there, still sobbing. He’s in his suit but his mask is beside him, crumpled up like he’s been holding onto it.

“Hey,” Tony says, bending down and taking him by the shoulders. “Hey, hey, what’s going on? Talk to me.”

Peter’s face is streaked with tears and he just shakes his head, latching onto Tony. Tony pulls him out of the car and to his feet, and as soon as he’s standing he wraps his arms around Tony, burying his face in his shoulder. 

Tony hugs him back, fucking terrified, and runs his hand through his hair, trying to soothe him. “Hey, buddy, hey, hey,” Tony whispers. He looks up with wild eyes when Happy rounds the car, and Tony pulls Peter back a little bit so Happy can shut his door. “What happened?” Tony asks, shaking his head at Happy.

“Uh—long story short, he was trying to save this cat from traffic, and—”

“And he just kept running,” Peter gasps, pulling back so he can look Tony in the eye. He hiccups a little bit and shakes his head. “And I’m fast, I’m—I’m really fast, but the traffic was—it was—it was almost like when I got Stella but—but worse, and I just—I mean, I almost got—got hit over and over but I wanted—and I couldn’t—and this car just—it just hit him and he went—and then the—then the other cars just—just didn’t—didn’t stop—and they kept running—running over—”

Tony can fill in the rest of the details and he nods, tugging Peter close again. “Okay,” he whispers, rubbing the kid’s back as a new round of tears begins. 

“It was bad,” Happy says, quietly. “I found him on the side of the road and it was—it was bad, really bad.”

Tony can imagine, and he doesn’t want to. He especially doesn’t want to see it through Peter’s eyes, this poor, big-hearted kid, who wants to save everybody and everything, and recently animals, especially.

“C’mon, Pete,” Tony says, squeezing his shoulder and tugging him towards the door. “Come inside, c’mon.”

Peter gasps and scrubs at his eyes as Tony pulls him inside. “I’m sorry, I’m—I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I—God, so embarrassing—”

All the sorry’s are making Tony dizzy and he quickly sits Peter down onto the little couch just inside the foyer. He doesn’t know what the hell to say about this. 

“You’re not embarrassing at all,” Tony says, dipping his head down a little to meet Peter’s gaze. “Okay? Not in the slightest.”

“I’m just…” Peter trails off, sucking in another rasping breath. “I just, I’m—I’m supposed to be able to—prevent these things and I just—I was so fucking useless, it was like I was just there to watch—”

“Buddy,” Tony says, tugging him in closer. “You’re not gonna be able to save everybody and everything, as much as you may want to.”

Peter leans in, resting his forehead on Tony’s far shoulder.

“And this sounds awful, I’m just…I’m so sorry it had to go that way, Pete. But I know you did all you could, everybody would know that, everybody that knows you knows that. And look what you’ve done, huh? Stella and her babies, Hogan, the twins, c’mon. You’ve done so much good, and that’s just the animals in this compound. I know you’ve done so much more. For animals and for people. You know, you gotta think about that. I know this is…I know how it must have looked. Felt.”

Peter shakes his head, letting out another sob. “It was bad. It was—God, I can’t get it out of my head. I can’t.”

He wishes he could erase the image for him. Tony, because he didn’t see it, keeps picturing Stella. And it makes him sick, so he can’t keep thinking about it—he’s gotta stop putting himself there, he’s gotta focus on Peter. Poor goddamn kid. 

“It’s okay, bud,” Tony says, gripping the back of Peter’s neck. “It’s okay. You gotta stop thinking about it, don’t—you can’t blame yourself.”

Peter switches shoulders and starts crying again, shaking his head and huddling as close to Tony as he can. “I feel so stupid.” 

“Don’t.”

“I just can’t—I should have done something,” Peter breathes, dissolving into sobs again. “It was so—so little—”

“Alright, Pete,” Tony says, cupping the back of his head and gripping his shoulder, pulling him closer. “It’s okay. It’s alright.”

~

“Did he cry himself to sleep?” Happy whispers, standing over them.

Tony nods, rubbing the kid’s back as he sleeps against his shoulder. “Never seen him do it before,” Tony says, quietly. “Should we call May, you think?”

Happy shakes his head. “Told me not to. Which made me wonder if I should. But I figured I’d leave it up to you.”

Tony chews on his lip, debating. He’s just glad Peter isn’t crying anymore. Tony decides that if he starts crying again when he wakes up, then they can talk about calling May. 

“It was bad,” Happy says. “Looked….fucking awful, Tony. I cried too, shit, but he feels all…responsible. He feels responsible for everything. But he took that on himself, probably thought it’d be the same outcome as it was with Stella…and it was…the worst possible outcome. Real bad.”

“I get it,” Tony whispers. “Can imagine. Don’t want to. Really annoyed Pete had to deal with it firsthand in Technicolor.”

Happy nods, looking down at his feet. “You gonna stay right there?”

Tony scoffs, trying not to move too much. “Of course. He’s asleep.”

“Okay.”

“Help me out here, go tell Pepper what’s going on.”

“Right,” Happy says, turning on his heel and heading towards the elevator. 

Tony sighs, ruffling Peter’s hair. He rests his cheek on the top of Peter’s head. The kid is breathing easily, sleeping soundly, and Tony doesn’t wanna move and disturb him. He sighs, feeling his arm start to fall asleep, and he remembers the time when Peter wasn’t here. When Peter was dead. Jesus, he tries not to think about it. He’s not dust, he’s not dead. He’s just asleep. He’s sad as shit right now, which Tony gets, and he hates it, but he’s not dead. He’s not dead, he’s not dead, he’s just asleep.

Tony grips Peter’s shoulder to remind himself that he’s not dead. He’s just asleep. 

“It’s okay,” Tony whispers. “You’re okay.”

They sit there for about twenty more minutes before Peter wakes himself up. He groans, grabbing Tony’s shoulder as he sits up, and Tony watches his face change as he remembers where he is, what happened.

“You okay?” Tony says, still holding onto him.

“God, I’m—shit, I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”

“What did I say about sorry’s, huh?” Tony says. “Moratorium. It’s still in effect. Always and forever. You have nothing to be sorry about.”

Peter braces his elbows on his knees and buries his face in his hands. “I don’t wanna act like I’m five years old.”

“I cried myself to sleep just the other night,” Tony says. “We were watching Titanic. I don’t know why. Pepper likes to harass me with stuff like that sometimes. But I cried and cried until I passed the hell out.”

Peter sighs. 

“Come on, kid,” Tony says. “We’ve got ice cream, the kids wanna see you, Tzu Tzu wants to see you, you’re her favorite.”

Peter laughs a little bit, which Tony considers a win. “Don’t tell anybody I fell asleep on you.”

“Uh, already texted all the other Avengers,” Tony says. “You need to fall asleep on me three more times to tie Bruce’s record. And that’s falling asleep on me physically and falling asleep to me telling stories.”

Peter looks over his shoulder, smiling a little bit.

~

Tony hates when the kid is in a bad mood, because he’s always in a good mood, so when he’s in a bad mood, it permeates the air around them and makes everything feel like poison. Tony chats with May to try and figure out what the hell to do.

It takes about a week and a half, but Tony finally figures it out. 

“Is everything good in there?” Tony asks, as Pepper pops her head out of the door. 

“Yeah,” she says. “But I definitely can’t keep ‘em quiet, so hopefully he just thinks Hogan and the twins are going nuts. And…echoing, I guess.”

“I’ll meet him a little closer to the hallway, you think that’ll work?” Tony asks. 

“Yeah, yeah, that’ll be good,” Pepper says. 

“Okay, okay,” Tony says, walking towards the hallway and the stairs. His phone buzzes and he looks down at it, sees a message from the kid. 

_I’m almost there, what’s the big rush? For real?_

Tony was tempted to do the whole ‘please come help me I’m injured’ but he figures that wouldn’t be kosher for the situation, so he went with ‘big surprise’ instead, which is closer to the truth. 

_Come and see, spiderling! I’m in the living room. Don’t hurt yourself, be careful._

Tony rolls back and forth on his heels and hears the chaos of the animal room behind him, which fills him with excitement. He texts Happy.

_How’s it look in there?_

_They’re tearing shit up but they all still have their bows on, though. Little miracles._

Tony snorts.

“ _Boss, Peter Parker is on the premises._ ”

“Mr. Stark!” Peter yells. “Mr. Stark, what’s happening?”

“Nothing!” Tony yells back. “Come up here!”

Tony hears him rushing up the stairs and he almost expects to see him suited up, but he’s wearing his street clothes and breathing hard. “Sorry I freaked you out,” Tony says. “You know I get excited.”

“What’s going on?” Peter asks, walking up the stairs and stopping right in front of him. “Alien invasion? New suit? What?”

“Breathe, you good?” Tony asks, wrapping his arm around Peter’s shoulder. “You shouldn’t have been too far from here, I didn’t want you, like—wearing yourself out—”

“I’m fine, I’m fine, tell me what’s going on!” Peter says, but he’s smiling a little bit.

“Alright, so,” Tony says, his heart bursting with excitement. “You know that awful, horrible kill shelter on Knight and 154th?”

“Yes,” Peter says, his brows furrowing. 

“Well, uh, I bought it,” Tony says. “And I’m gonna mow the whole place down, rebuild it on that piece of land and the empty lot beside it. Gonna make it three stories high, a state of the art, new adoption facility that you’re gonna help me design.”

Peter is just staring at him, a small smile forming on his face. It gets wider and wider. “Are you serious?”

“Serious as a heart attack,” Tony says. “I’m gonna hire a whole new staff, make sure this kind of thing is their focus, their passion, and I’m gonna name it _Peter’s Home for Wayward Animals_. How’s that sound?”

Peter looks away from him then, blinking, and his eyes are shining. He opens his mouth and closes it about five times before looking at Tony again. “Mr. Stark—Tony—I—I can’t—I don’t even—”

“You like it, right?” Tony asks, slowly walking them towards the room. “Scaring me with all that negative phrasing.”

“No, I—I love it,” Peter says, his voice breaking. “I can’t—it’s—it’s amazing.” He stops them from walking by wrapping Tony in a tight hug, and Tony laughs, hugging him back. “I can’t even—you’re the best. You’re the best.”

“We’re gonna get some real detectives up in this place,” Tony says, patting Peter on the back. “Have ‘em trawling the streets for strays, maybe I’ll send ‘em out in suits so they can’t get hurt. And we’ll have plenty of room for everything we find. Cats, dogs, birds, reptiles, all of it, everything.”

Peter pulls back and now he’s beaming at him. 

“But, uh…the best part,” Tony says, clearing his throat, trying to keep himself from smiling too hard. “All the animals that were in there needed a place to go for the renovations, so—”

“Oh my God,” Peter says, stepping back a few paces. He looks back and forth between Tony and the room, already figuring him out. “Are they—”

“Why don’t you go check?” Tony asks, gesturing towards the door.

“Oh my God,” Peter says, quickly rushing over. Tony tries to keep up with him, and he’s right behind him when he opens the door, revealing the circus that’s taken over the animal room. Now, very aptly named.

“So we’ve got thirty dogs,” Tony says, watching as they all rush around, playing with each other. “And twenty two cats. And we managed to put a little red and blue bow on each of them, which was a feat, lemme tell you.”

“Stella and the kittens are wearing them too!” Pepper says, from the corner. She’s holding Stella, and the kittens are in a basket at her feet, all fighting to get out.

“Hogan and the twins have sweaters,” Happy yells, from the other corner, where he’s holding the twins. They’re wearing little knitted Spiderman sweaters, which was an actual thing Tony found on the internet. Hogan is rushing around the room, chasing a corgi. 

“I’m probably gonna expand to the other open space on the fourth floor,” Tony says, watching Peter’s face as he takes it all in. “They’ll be here for like a month, while my builders work. So you’ll have some solid time in the Stark Circus.”

Peter watches them all, running around happily, playing with each other, and Tony thanks God that they’re all getting along and none of them have started fighting yet. But he’s prepared if that does start happening. But, for now, there’s only happiness and the look on Peter’s face.

Before Tony knows it, the kid is nearly tackling him in another hug. 

“Thank you,” Peter says, softly. “Thank you so much, I can’t even express…I just…this is gonna be. So much fun.”

“You’re welcome, Pete,” Tony says, smiling to himself. 

He never pictured this compound filled with animals. But he never thought he’d feel like a father to Spiderman, either. 

Sometimes things happen. Sometimes they work out better than he hoped they would.


End file.
